Rebel leader supports refusal of Darfur militiamen to merge with Sudan’s RSF
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Elisabeth Janaina
Aug 20, 2017, 10:57:22 AM8/20/17
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Rebel leader supports refusal of Darfur militiamen to merge with Sudan’s RSF
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Border Guards Forces hold their weapons during a gathering in North
Darfur area of Misteriya on 13 Aug 2017 (ST Photo)
August 19, 2017 (KHARTOUM) - A Darfur rebel leader, Abdel Wahid al-Nur
Saturday welcomed the rejection of Musa Hilal’s Border Guards Forces
(BGF) to be integrated into the government’s Rapid Support Forces
(RSF) and called to work together to topple the regime of President
Omer al-Bashir.
Hilal, a notorious militia leader accused of war crimes and atrocities
in Darfur, refused the government plans to merge his tribal fighters
of the BGF into the RSF militia led by Mohamed Hamdan Daglo aka
“Hemeti, who was one of his close aides in the past.
The rejection of the tribal leader comes as the government began to
implement a large-scale disarmament plan seen crucial to reduce
violence in the region as the UN and the African Union decided to cut
by nearly a half the peacekeeping force tasked with the protection of
civilians.
In statements to Radio Afia Darfur on Saturday, the exiled rebel
leader welcomed "the albeit belated awakening conscience of Sheikh
Musa Hilal", adding it is time to welcome any person who quits the
regime and stands against it.
"It is time for all the Sudanese people to stand united against the
regime," he added.
The Sudan Liberation Movement led by Abdel Wahid al-Nur (SLM-al-Nur)
refuses to declare a unilateral cessation of hostilities or to engage
in a peace process with the government.
The Sudanese army clashed last year with the fighters of the holdout
rebel group in the mountainous areas of Jebel Marra. But Khartoum
stopped its military operations after an agreement with the American
administration providing to allow unfettered humanitarian access in
the whole region.
In a related development, a former rebel commander Abdallah Rizkallah
Aka (Savana) announced his defection to Musa Hilal and called to
reunite the armed groups against the Sudanese government.
Savana was one of the few Arab ethnic rebels. He fought against the
rebel groups in the ranks of Hilal’s tribal forces before to rebel
against the government, and to sign a peace agreement several years
later.
"I am the leader of the Revolutionary Forces Movement, a signatory of
a peace (agreement) with the Sudanese government, announce our
withdrawal from the peace process, declare a rebellion against the
government and (our readiness) to attack its forces," he told Sudan
Tribune in a telephone interview.
To explain his defection, Savana said "The government asked me to
recruit 10,000 fighters from the Mahameed (the tribal group of Musa
Hilal) for the Rapid Support Forces. But, I refused because tomorrow
they would get rid of me and hand me over to the ICC (International
Criminal Court) as a war criminal," he said.
He further rejected the government’s decision to integrate the Border
Guards into the RSF, declaring "Now we have rebelled against the
regime in Khartoum, and we will confront it. Also, we are against
anyone who protects this regime," he said.
Observers in Darfur say the refusal of BGF militiamen to be merged
with the RSF can be seen as a rejection to work under the command of
Hemeti who is from the same ethnic group and was BGF commander.
Also, Hilal who is involved in an illegal gold mining industry is seen
in Khartoum as using his tribal militiamen to protect his lucrative
business. Last January, the then interior minister Ismat Abdel Rahman
pointed to the use of militiamen and foreigners in the protection of
the illegal mining in Jebel Amir area in North Darfur and called to
disarm them.
Savana called on the rebel groups to meet together in order to
conjugate their efforts against the regime, pointing he is in contact
with Gibril Ibrahim the leader of the Justice and Equality Movement
and Minni Minnawi, a leader of one of the SLM factions.
The Sudanese military officials say they are determined to continue
the disarmament campaign in Darfur, adding that after the voluntary
stage, the army will carry out a compulsory disarmament campaign.
(ST)
Article
Comments (0)
email Email
print Print
pdfSave
separation
increase
decrease
separation
separation
Border Guards Forces hold their weapons during a gathering in North
Darfur area of Misteriya on 13 Aug 2017 (ST Photo)
August 19, 2017 (KHARTOUM) - A Darfur rebel leader, Abdel Wahid al-Nur
Saturday welcomed the rejection of Musa Hilal’s Border Guards Forces
(BGF) to be integrated into the government’s Rapid Support Forces
(RSF) and called to work together to topple the regime of President
Omer al-Bashir.
Hilal, a notorious militia leader accused of war crimes and atrocities
in Darfur, refused the government plans to merge his tribal fighters
of the BGF into the RSF militia led by Mohamed Hamdan Daglo aka
“Hemeti, who was one of his close aides in the past.
The rejection of the tribal leader comes as the government began to
implement a large-scale disarmament plan seen crucial to reduce
violence in the region as the UN and the African Union decided to cut
by nearly a half the peacekeeping force tasked with the protection of
civilians.
In statements to Radio Afia Darfur on Saturday, the exiled rebel
leader welcomed "the albeit belated awakening conscience of Sheikh
Musa Hilal", adding it is time to welcome any person who quits the
regime and stands against it.
"It is time for all the Sudanese people to stand united against the
regime," he added.
The Sudan Liberation Movement led by Abdel Wahid al-Nur (SLM-al-Nur)
refuses to declare a unilateral cessation of hostilities or to engage
in a peace process with the government.
The Sudanese army clashed last year with the fighters of the holdout
rebel group in the mountainous areas of Jebel Marra. But Khartoum
stopped its military operations after an agreement with the American
administration providing to allow unfettered humanitarian access in
the whole region.
In a related development, a former rebel commander Abdallah Rizkallah
Aka (Savana) announced his defection to Musa Hilal and called to
reunite the armed groups against the Sudanese government.
Savana was one of the few Arab ethnic rebels. He fought against the
rebel groups in the ranks of Hilal’s tribal forces before to rebel
against the government, and to sign a peace agreement several years
later.
"I am the leader of the Revolutionary Forces Movement, a signatory of
a peace (agreement) with the Sudanese government, announce our
withdrawal from the peace process, declare a rebellion against the
government and (our readiness) to attack its forces," he told Sudan
Tribune in a telephone interview.
To explain his defection, Savana said "The government asked me to
recruit 10,000 fighters from the Mahameed (the tribal group of Musa
Hilal) for the Rapid Support Forces. But, I refused because tomorrow
they would get rid of me and hand me over to the ICC (International
Criminal Court) as a war criminal," he said.
He further rejected the government’s decision to integrate the Border
Guards into the RSF, declaring "Now we have rebelled against the
regime in Khartoum, and we will confront it. Also, we are against
anyone who protects this regime," he said.
Observers in Darfur say the refusal of BGF militiamen to be merged
with the RSF can be seen as a rejection to work under the command of
Hemeti who is from the same ethnic group and was BGF commander.
Also, Hilal who is involved in an illegal gold mining industry is seen
in Khartoum as using his tribal militiamen to protect his lucrative
business. Last January, the then interior minister Ismat Abdel Rahman
pointed to the use of militiamen and foreigners in the protection of
the illegal mining in Jebel Amir area in North Darfur and called to
disarm them.
Savana called on the rebel groups to meet together in order to
conjugate their efforts against the regime, pointing he is in contact
with Gibril Ibrahim the leader of the Justice and Equality Movement
and Minni Minnawi, a leader of one of the SLM factions.
The Sudanese military officials say they are determined to continue
the disarmament campaign in Darfur, adding that after the voluntary
stage, the army will carry out a compulsory disarmament campaign.
(ST)
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